How to Balance the Universe (or die trying)
by VirginiaPottsStark
Summary: After the battle to save the world from Thanos, Carol Danvers sets out on a mission to reunite the Stark family. With some help from a ragtag team of superheroes, she might be able to pull it off. *Endgame spoilers*
1. Let's Go to Work

This was never, ever meant to be a multi-chapter fic, but I started writing it and quickly realized this story has a mind of its own. Carol Danvers got real into her feels about the Stark family and there was no turning back. While this story, at its heart, is about the Stark family, you can expect some of your favorite non-OG6 Avengers to show up. Well, okay, you can probably expect your favorite OG6 Avengers to show up too.

**Chapter 1: Let's Go To Work**

Carol stood on the steps of the Stark family lake house, looking around at all of the wonderful, crazy, amazing people she had been working with for the past 5 years. They all had a story; they all had things in their lives that led them to where they were standing right now.

Then she remembers _where_ she is standing and her eyes settle on Morgan and Pepper. They were still standing near the lake and Pepper was holding Morgan in her arms, as Morgan buried her face in her mother's neck while she sobbed.

Pepper pressed a kiss to the side of Morgan's head and Carol could see that she was crying too. Pepper had kept her composer pretty well in the days since Tony's death, even though she was grieving and facing a life without the person she loved; left alone to raise their daughter.

Carol felt Nick's hand on her shoulder and the presence of Maria Hill behind her.

"He loved them so much..." she said, as she watched Peter Parker hover a few feet away from Pepper and Morgan; ready to jump up and do anything they needed him to.

Nick chuckled from beside her, "one of the first times I sat down and spoke with him was right after he handed the company over to her. I think the whole world knew then that he loved her."

Carol watched Maria rush off the porch and across the yard to Pepper's side, as the woman began to cry uncontrollably along with her daughter. Maria waved all the superheroes off when they started to gather around the pair. They were all on edge, ready to take the next bullet, bomb or mad titan for Pepper and Morgan.

Carol and Nick stood to the side as Maria helped Pepper and Morgan inside. Maria gave a brief glance at Nick, to which he simply nodded. It was a silent request for privacy, which the grieving family hadn't received much of in the days following the battle.

"I have to do something," Carol said, as she stared at the door Maria had closed behind her.

"There is nothing you can do. It's over." Nick said.

"No. I don't believe that. He should be here with them. They should be a family. That little girl had her father when she went to bed one night and the next he wasn't there to tuck her in because he was _dead_. He's dead, Nick. We came to him and asked for his help one last time and he ended up dying for it."

"He knew that was a risk and he took it."

Carol shook her head, "look around you at all of the people who would trade places with Tony if they could, so that he could be here with Morgan and Pepper. I even saw the Winter Soldier crying when he looked at Morgan's little face. No one wanted _this_."

"_Danvers_—"

"_Captain_."

Nick rolled his good eye at her, "Captain, of course no one wanted this, but it was the only way."

"What about Gamora? Nebula brought a Gamora from another timeline and that didn't hurt anything."

"That's not the problem," a voice came from behind her. She turned her head just slightly and noticed it was Doctor Strange who had spoken.

"Then what's the problem?" Carol asked, as she turned to face him.

"In the timelines we could take Tony from..." he began to explain.

Nick cut him off, "in those timelines either Pepper doesn't exist or she meets him too late."

"Too late for _what_?"

"To save him. In the timelines we could take him from, if we attempt to go to a point where we _could_ take him, he's either dead or dying." Stephen finished his explanation.

"I don't understand."

"Either the world has ended because Tony and Pepper never met, or there's some sort of epic catastrophe standing in her way and she can't reach him."

Carol listened to Nick, and for a moment she was stunned to silence. How epic could one love be that to go without it would be a choice between dying or destroying the world? In this world, this timeline, he chose death.

This is the most fragile of all the timelines. One wrong move could send this world spiraling out of control. One wrong step and this could all just disappear; turn to ash in an instant. Morgan could cease to exist. This lake house and the life Tony built with Pepper here could cease to exist.

Their love could cease to exist, and wouldn't that be something? A love that ceases to exist because a butterfly flapped its wings in China.

"Then we travel back to the battle and _I'll_ take the gauntlet. I can handle the snap. I won't die from it." Carol wasn't actually sure she wouldn't die from it, but even if she knew she would, she'd do it anyway.

"_No_." Nick responded; the word came out harshly, like he was angry with her.

"When I close my eyes, I can see him there on the ground. I can see Pepper kneeling down in front of him and I can hear her telling him he could rest. I can hear her crying and I can still feel her struggling in my arms when I had to pull her away so they could take his body. There's always a chance I could die going into a mission and that's never stopped me. Why should it stop me now?"

She crossed her arms and looked at Nick defiantly, but he wasn't having it.

"You protect the universe and it _needs_ you. I can't let you risk your life over this. People die, Carol. I couldn't protect Tony from that, but I can still protect you!" He shouted.

When Carol's eyes flashed a bright orange, Stephen stepped between them. Everyone had turned their attention to the three of them; Carol's eyes burning bright as Nick stood his ground.

An eerie silence descended over everyone, like the calm before the storm. The only sound that broke through was a child, wailing for her father. Time stood still for a moment and everyone held their breath.

It was Nebula who moved through the crowd first, pushing past the others and rushing inside to Morgan. Carol caught a brief glimpse of her gathering the child in her arms before the door closed again.

Stephen was the first to speak, "I'll take the gauntlet."

"I can't let you do that, Doctor." Nick said, as though he had any power over the man at all.

"I'm not asking. The universe _does_ need Carol, but Morgan needs her father and Pepper needs her husband."

Bucky Barnes took the first step forward, "I'll take the gauntlet."

"No he won't," Steve Rogers spoke from behind him.

The two men shared a look before the Winter Soldier spoke again, "I owe him, Steve."

"I'll take the gauntlet." The voice came from Sam Wilson, who took a step forward as he spoke.

"I'll take the gauntlet." The talking raccoon offered from the back of the crowd.

Carol could practically _hear_ Peter Quill roll his eyes.

"Are you going to put your whole body in it? I'll take the gauntlet." Quill said. When he stepped forward, the remaining guardians moved in sync, wordlessly offering their services in exchange for Tony's life.

Carol turned her attention back to Nick, "are you going to stand in our way?"

Nick gave a long suffering sigh. Carol knew he must have been exhausted from dealing with insubordinate superheroes, but this wasn't something she was willing to back down on. He gave a slight shake of his head and that was all Carol needed before she stepped off the porch and began gathering the others.

"We should speak with my father." Carol heard Hope say to Scott. She watched them both walk off in search of Hank. They were going to need all the Pym particles they could get.

Carol spared a moment to look at the men and women who surrounded her. It was a ragtag team of superheroes, most of which hadn't been around the last five years. They'd never seen the way Tony looked at his daughter and his wife; the pure adoration on his face as though he couldn't believe, even after all this time, that a woman like Pepper could love him and that they had created this perfect little person who loved him unconditionally.

Carol was startled from her thoughts when Nebula came barreling out the door and down the steps of the lake house.

"I will wield the gauntlet."

Something in Nebula's voice left no room for argument. The only thing Carol could do was give a slight nod in her direction.

"Let's go to work."


	2. All In

I need to admit something. I do not understand how time travel works in the MCU. It is very, _very_ confusing. I've tried to figure it out and I've done some research on it, and I still don't understand it. I'm not trying to throw shade at the writers and the directors, but come on, fam. They could have explained it better. That being said, I'm mostly just winging it at this point with the time traveling and making it up as I go along.

This chapter is for tonystark5ever on tumblr, because she's awesome and she helped me a lot with this chapter.

**Chapter 2: All In**

Carol Danvers did not enjoy time traveling as much as she expected. Her heart was racing and seemed to match the sudden throbbing in her head. It certainly didn't help that when she appeared out of thin air and right into Tony Stark's car, he screamed like a girl; loud and piercing.

"Who the fuck are you?" He asked, breath coming in rapid pants as though she had nearly given him a heart attack.

"I'm from the future." Carol gave a quick glance at the car display, informing her that she did not, in fact, come from the future. She didn't have time to explain branched timelines to this Alternate Timeline Tony, especially given the fact that she didn't quite understand the branched timelines herself. Life was a lot easier when she assumed there was only one timeline. She should have known better. There were infinite universes, so why wouldn't there be infinite timelines?

"You're from the future. Alright, well, I won't get into how I don't think _that's_ possible. I need you to get out of my car." He reached over her and started to open her door, but her hand on his wrist stopped his movements. She looked at him for a moment. He looked so very much like the Tony she had known. He was handsome, and the air of arrogance surrounding him was really just a facade to hide his own self loathing. There had always been something that seemed broken in the Tony she knew, and there was that same sense of brokenness inside of this one.

She wanted to tell him he was doing great. She wanted to tell him he's the best damn superhero she's ever known. She wanted so badly to tell him that _he_ had been the one to make time travel possible, and _he_ was the one who saved the entire universe, but there wasn't enough time for her to explain that, either.

"I need to get you back to Pepper and Morgan."

"Pepper is right across the street. She's about to get married. Are you here for the wedding?"

Carol looked around, and she quickly realized that they were actually parked in front of a beautiful church somewhere in Manhattan. This Pepper was getting married and she didn't think it was to this Tony.

"No! No. I'm not here for the wedding. I'm here for you." Carol stole another glance at the clock. She didn't have much time left.

"Do you mind telling me who the hell Morgan is?"

Carol rubbed her forehead, "your daughter."

"I have a _daughter_? With who? Oh god. Are you here to tell me I'm the father of your child?" The panic on his face would be comical in any other situation. Right now, it only seemed to escalate her exasperation.

"No, you have a daughter with Pepper where I come from." Carol attempted to explain.

"Should I get you to a hospital?" He asked, concern crossing over his tired face. This Alternate Timeline Tony looked just as exhausted, if not more, than the Tony in her timeline had. She supposed it had something to do with this timeline's Pepper getting married to someone other than this Tony.

She shook her head, "no, I'm fine. Where I come from, you're married to Pepper and you have a five year old daughter with her. Your daughter's name is Morgan and you love her more than anything in the world. Well, you did at least. You're dead now. I'm trying to get you back to them. I need you to come with me."

He listened to her carefully, and he seemed to be taking the things she was telling him in stride.

"I can't. I wish that I could help you, but I've got things to take care of here."

Alternate Timeline Tony looked past her and across the street at the church again. Carol was almost surprised at how quickly she was able to assess the situation. This Tony was sitting in his car, outside the church where this Pepper was about to marry another man, and he was trying to decide between stopping the wedding or letting her go.

Well, this wasn't exactly what she had expected, but maybe it would be easy to talk this Tony into coming back to her timeline.

"Come with me and you can be with her."

He seemed to think it over for a moment before he spoke again, "I can't. There are people here who are counting on me for things I can't exactly explain. I just know that I can't leave."

Carol sighed and leaned her head back against the seat. Her head was still pounding and she took a deep, calming breath to fight the nausea that was getting worse by the second.

"How did you meet your Pepper?" She asked, looking out the tinted window of Tony's ridiculously expensive and utterly magnificent car.

She thought she could spot the bride-to-be inside the church. Perhaps she was just remembering the day Pepper and Tony from her own world had taken that last big step in their relationship. It was a small ceremony. She had attended it, accompanied by James, Nebula, Bruce, Harley and Natasha.

_Natasha_. It was best not to think of her in this moment. Perhaps even better to not mention her in front of this Tony. She couldn't know if they knew one another in this alternate timeline, but if he did, this definitely wouldn't be the time to mention that Natasha was dead in her version of reality.

"College. Well, at a frat party at NYU. I didn't go there, and neither did she. Pepper went to school at Columbia. She's _brilliant_. We dated for three years. It was hard and there was a lot of commuting between MIT and Columbia. Then we tried living together when we graduated, and I don't think I ever realized how difficult I was to live with until she left me. I had to live alone with myself for the first time in my life."

Carol listened to him intently. She thought about all the ways _this_ Tony could fit into _her_ Pepper's life. She turned her head once again towards the church; the sound of music coming through the open doors caught her attention. She watched as this alternate version of Pepper waited on the arm of a man Carol had never seen before, preparing to walk down the aisle to a new life.

Carol watched as this Pepper turned towards the open doors; her eyes scanning the outside of the church as though she was looking for something...or more likely, _someone_.

"Shit," Carol mumbled under her breath.

"What?" Alternate Timeline Tony asked.

Carol sighed a little, "you have to go, Tony. Before it's too late. She's looking for you. She's waiting on you to save her."

"I can't. I can't do that to her. She deserves to be happy."

"She will be, but she'll _only_ be happy with you. I don't think you can help my Pepper, because your own Pepper needs you here."

Alternate Timeline Tony stared at her for a moment, waiting on her to stop him; to ask him to come back with her again. She wouldn't do that. She _couldn't_ do it.

Carol wasn't quite sure why, but she felt uneasy in this timeline. She felt like there was a storm coming and if she squinted hard enough, she could see it on the horizon. She didn't think this timeline had much time left at all. That meant this Tony and this Pepper were on borrowed time. It was too late. She had wound up in one of the timelines Stephen and Nick tried to warn her about.

She couldn't push for this Tony to follow her. He didn't belong in her world. If this world was about to end, then this Tony and his Pepper deserved to spend the remainder of their lives together, even if that was only a few hours. Carol knew that she couldn't bring him back with her because _he_ knew that something big was coming. He could feel it, too. If he went back to her timeline, he'd spend the rest of his days worrying about _his_ Pepper and _his_ friends.

There was an ache in her heart that felt something like guilt. She _did_ feel guilty. She would be leaving this Tony here to die. She couldn't save him. She had already failed again.

Carol took another deep breath and pushed this Tony gently out the door of the car, and watched him run across the street with a small smile on her face.

The last thing she remembered was Tony shouting Pepper's name as he ran into the church.

When she awoke she was back in her own timeline. The rest of the team hovered over her and asked if she was okay before helping her to her feet.

"You're one minute late," Sam said.

"I had to talk that timeline's Tony into stopping that Pepper's wedding," Carol looked around as the other superheroes stared at her, wide-eyed and a million questions on the tips of their tongues.

"What the fu—" Quill started.

Carol cut him off, "I don't want to talk about it. He couldn't come back with me. I don't want to talk about that either." She made her way across the room for a bottle of water. She still had that unsettling feeling in the pit of her stomach.

"Well, Bucky wasn't able to bring Tony back either. He died in the accident with his parents." Sam said.

"Come on, Sam! You could have at least mentioned it wasn't my fault this time!" Bucky whined. Actually, seeing the Winter Soldier whine was kind of adorable, and it brought a small smile to Carol's face.

Sam _clearly_ did not think it was adorable, as he rolled his eyes before he spoke, "for the rest of this mission we're just going to assume, that unless I say something is specifically your fault — and you know how much I love to say that — it wasn't your fault."

Carol listened to them banter and closed her eyes for a moment. The throbbing pain in her head was starting to dissipate, leaving behind a dull ache.

"Captain Danvers, are you alright?" Stephen asked as he studied her face.

She opened her eyes and looked around the room at her friends' worried expressions, "It was...odd. I saw him there alive and well. I spoke with him and I knew that it was him, but it _wasn't_ him. He told me that he couldn't leave his timeline because people were counting on him. I think that Thanos was coming. Something didn't feel right there. It was like I could feel that timeline slowly slipping away. I think he felt it, too. I...couldn't save him. _Again_."

Bruce Banner, who had been there to make sure everyone got safely to and from the timelines, took off his glasses and stepped away from the control panel. He looked exhausted and very, very stressed. She could understand that. All of their lives were in Bruce's hands, and he was flying solo without Tony there to help him.

"Captain, you weren't there to save him. You were there to bring him back. If he couldn't come with you, that's not something you can control. You said you think he knew Thanos was coming, right? Well, that Tony may not have been _our_ Tony, but he's still Tony Stark. He would have never forgiven himself if he didn't at least _try_ to save that world. You didn't fail."

Bruce took a brief pause and looked around the room, "none of you failed. It's not our place to save all of these timelines. _I_ don't even know what would happen if they all co-existed with the main timeline indefinitely. If it feels like the timeline is ending, we need to let it. That doesn't mean any of you are failures. What you're trying to do here for Tony and his family is heroic enough. It has to be."

Everyone's attention was focused on Bruce. He usually didn't speak this much. He had retreated into himself since Natasha and Tony died; effectively closing himself off from the rest of the world.

"That was a pretty inspiring speech, doc, but I don't understand why we can't just go back to the battle and one of _us_ can put the gauntlet on." Quill said.

"Because changing the past won't change the present. That's not how time travel works. I feel like I've explained this before."

Quill's face fell, "everything I thought I knew about time travel is a lie."

"This is why we have to attempt to bring him back from another timeline." Stephen explained.

Bruce nodded his head in agreement, "exactly."

"So we keep looking. Are we all good with that?" Sam asked.

Carol looked around the room again, but no one objected.

"Looks like we're all in. So, who's next?"


End file.
